1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to seat mounting arrangement and more specifically to a quick-action mount arrangement which permits seats/saddles to be switched from one to another with the minimum of trouble and effort.
2. Related Art
With stationary exercise bikes such as those found in gymnasiums, a problem has been encountered in that the very exercise that the machines are designed to produce, leads to the drawback that the person by exercising, sweats, usually profusely. This leads to the situation wherein in the event that a number of different people use the same machine, the saddle or seat of that machine tends to become contaminated with sweat and/or bacteria contained in the sweat, and thus can lead to a possible hygiene problem as time passes by and different people continue to use the same machine.
One method of overcoming this is to provide the seat with a removable washable/disposable cover. However, such covers apt to slip about, as they stretch and/or otherwise deform with the passing of time. Another method is to change the seat each time a different person wishes to exercise. However, this usually involves the use of a spanner to release a nut and to allow the seat to switched out. The loss of the spanner, of course is apt to occur, thus leading to frustration and annoyance especially when the user has his or her own saddle which is particularly adapted to the person""s physique, shape/preference.
The present invention is directed to solving the problem alluded to above, by providing an arrangement which permits seats to be quickly and easily unlocked, removed and replaced with another, and then permits the new seat to be quickly and easily locked in position ready for use. In addition to this quick and easy switching of seats, the invention further features a quick and easy orientation adjustment (e.g. pitch adjustment) which allows the angle of the saddle to be adjusted to an angle with respect to the floor/bike which is preferred by the user.
Yet another feature of the invention resides in an arrangement which resiliently supports the saddle or seat mounting arrangement and allows both the mount and the saddle to rock from side to side in a manner which emulates given types of riding style.
In brief, the above features are achieved by an embodiment wherein a seat support platform is provided with recesses that are adapted to receive elongate members which form part of most commonly used saddle chassis/frames and which extend along the bottom thereof. Once placed in these recesses, the elongate members can be locked in position using a rotatable locking element.
In addition to the above, the platform is pivotally supported on shafts or pivots and resiliently connected to a base member through a plurality of springs or the like type of resilient biasing elements. These spring are selected to produce sufficient bias/resistance to limit the amount of rocking motion the seat may undergo to a suitable narrow angle.
The base member, in this embodiment, is provided with clamp members which have arcuate surfaces that are provided with splines, teeth, knurling or the like, and which can be selectively forced into locking engagement through the use of a suitable lever operated device. In the disclosed embodiment, this lever operated device takes the form of a xe2x80x9ccamxe2x80x9d lever which is provided with a cam surface that causes the arcuate surfaces to assume a locking or clamped engagement when it is rotated to a locking position. When rotated away from this position, sufficient play is permitted between the surfaces of the clamp members to permit manual manipulation of the relative positions of the surfaces and thus allow the angle of the base member with respect to a device (e.g. a stationary bicycle) to be adjusted to a desired orientation.
More specifically, a first aspect of the present invention resides in a quick release/connection arrangement for a seat, comprising: a seat receiving structure having recessed portions adapted to receive a pair of elongate members which form part of a frame of the seat; a lever operated rotatable locking element is rotatably supported on the seat structure receiving member and selectively rotatable between a first position wherein engagement with the elongate members is absent and wherein the pair of elongate members are removable from the seat structure receiving member, and a second position wherein elongate members are engaged and locked in position on the seat structure receiving member.
This arrangement can further comprise: a base member on which the seat receiving structure is pivotally supported; and a resilient biasing arrangement which operatively interconnects the seat receiving structure with the base member and which biases the seat receiving structure to normally assume a predetermined orientation with respect to the base member.
Additionally, this arrangement can further include a clamp operatively interconnecting the base member and a chassis of a device, the clamp comprising: a first clamp member which is rigidly connected to the base member and a second clamp member which is rigidly connected with the chassis, a cam arrangement for normally forcing the first and second clamp members into locking engagement with each other and for selectively permitting sufficient play between the first and second clamp members to allow the relative movement therebetween.
This cam arrangement can comprises a lever which is rotatably supported on a shaft that is disposed through apertures respectively formed the first and second clamp members and which is operatively connected with the first clamp member. The lever in this case having a cam surface formed thereon proximate an axis about which the lever is rotatable with respect to the shaft. This cam surface is engageable with a surface which is stationary with respect to the second clamp member to produces a reaction which forces the first and second clamp members together into locking engagement with one another.
The above-mentioned seat receiving structure can comprise a platform in which the recessed portions are formed, and in which detents are provided to resist movement of the elongate members of the seat frame out of the passage structures with a predetermined amount of force.
A second aspect of the present invention resides in a quick release/connection arrangement for a seat comprising: a seat receiving platform which is pivotally supported on a base member; a resilient biasing member operatively interconnecting the platform and the base member to permit a limited amount of pivotal movement of the platform with respect to the base member; and a lever operated locking element mounted on the platform which is movable between a first position wherein a seat can be readily removed from the platform, and a position wherein the seat is immovably locked onto the platform.
In addition to the above, this arrangement can include a lever operated clamp which interconnects the base member and a chassis of a device operated locking element which is movable between a first position wherein a seat can be readily removed from the platform, and a position wherein the seat is immovably locked onto the platform.
A third aspect of the invention resides in a quick release/connection arrangement for a seat comprising: a seat receiving platform which is pivotally supported on a base member; a lever operated locking element mounted on the platform and movable between a first position wherein a seat can be readily removed from the platform, and a second position wherein the seat is immovably locked onto the platform; and a lever operated clamp which interconnects the base member and a chassis of a device.
Similar to the above-mentioned arrangements, the lever operated clamp can comprise: first and second clamp elements which are respectively rigidly connected with a base member and a chassis of a device; a shaft which passes through one of the first and second clamp elements and which is engageable with another of the first and second clamp elements; a lever operatively engaged with the shaft and arranged to be movable to a clamp position wherein it applies a force to the shaft and forces the first and second clamp elements into locking engagement with one another.
In this arrangement, the lever is formed with a cam surface which engages a predetermined surface when the lever is rotated to the clamp position, and which, through the engagement, displaces the shaft and forces the first clamp element into engagement with the second clamp element.